Title: I Love You…I'll Kill You
Fandom: The Dark Knight
Rating: M
Pairing: Joker/OC
Genre: Drama/Angst
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the Joker or Batman.
A/N: There is some medical "stuff" in this chapter and I apologize if I got any of it wrong. I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on tv so everything I wrote I found information on the internet and pieced it together. Sorry if it's not plausible in real life! Enjoy! (And sorry for the cliffhanger! I try hard not to end chapters with them but it's an old habit and old habits die hard.)
Chapter Fifty-Three
Batman slipped in the back door of the warehouse, quietly taking out the two inept guards on post. He was now certain that this was the warehouse that the Joker was staying in. Now that he had the right place, the next step was to find Alfred.
He moved quickly, going from room to room, silently taking out the Joker's men. His plan was to go through each room until he found Alfred. Then he would call for an ambulance and search the rest of the place for the Joker.
After going through at least a dozen rooms, he opened a door and saw Alfred lying on a cot. He closed the door quietly and rushed over to the man's bedside. He couldn't believe how many cuts and bruises he had on his face, and all the bandages he had all over his body. "Alfred! Are you ok?"
"Yes, Master Bruce." Alfred managed to smile a little. "I'll be fine."
"What did he do to you?" Bruce demanded to know, getting more and more obsessed with making the Joker pay for his crimes as the moments went by.
"Nothing that can't be healed." Alfred assured. He could see that Bruce was starting to get almost over-taken with anger and guilt. "It really looks much worse than it really is. I assure you."
"Well don't take this the wrong way but you look horrible." Bruce told him. He knew that Alfred was trying to make him feel better and take away some of the guilt that was eating him up about letting his friend get abducted by the Joker in the first place. He appreciated Alfred for it, but no amount of reassurance was going to take away the guilt.
"I'd like to see how wonderful you would look if you were in this situation." Alfred joked, laughing and wincing at the pain that movement caused.
"Just stay there." He commanded. "I'm going to call for an ambulance and then go check the rest of the warehouse to see if the Joker or any more of his goons are here. But I need you to stay right here."
"Don't." Alfred commanded, causing Bruce to look confused. "The Joker isn't here. I overheard his men talking when they brought me some water. He's taking Lacy to a nearby place on the docks to kill her. You have to go save her."
Bruce laughed. "You expect me to save her?"
"Yes." Alfred replied seriously. "And you're going to do it whether you like it or not."
"I'm not a little boy anymore, Alfred." Bruce pointed out. "You can't tell me what to do."
"You're right. You're not a little boy anymore. I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what not to do. And you're not going to let your pride and anger prevent you from doing the very thing that you set out to do when you first donned the Batman persona."
He could see that he had gotten Bruce's attention and continued. "When you started this whole thing you wanted to punish the bad guys and bring them to justice when the police couldn't, while also saving innocent people. While both of us know Lacy isn't 100 innocent, she's not the bad guy either. And trust me, if you don't go and try to save Lacy now, you will regret it—maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
"You've watched too much Casablanca." Bruce commented.
"Perhaps." Alfred agreed. It was one of his favorite movies. "But listen, I don't believe she's a bad person. We had a chance to talk earlier and I truly believe that she is a victim in this whole thing."
He could see that Bruce was hesitant to believe it. "I know it sounds hard to believe but I don't think she is to blame for the Joker's crimes. Certainly she should have done something sooner, but she had her reasons for not coming forward. I don't think her cowardice is enough to condemn her to death."
"Why are you suddenly her personal cheerleader?" He asked out of curiosity. "She's practically been the Joker's accomplice all these years!"
"Because I saw a different side to her while we were locked up in here. If she was working with the Joker, then she wouldn't have risked her life getting a hold of the cell phone that she used to contact you. She wouldn't have tried to help you find this warehouse and she wouldn't have taken such good care of me after what the Joker did. Surely even you can admit that."
"You have a point there." Bruce conceded. It was a good start that she helped him find Alfred and took care of him. He was grateful to her for that.
"Do you trust me?" Alfred asked him.
"You know I do. You're probably the only person that I trust 100 of the time." Bruce answered.
"Then trust what I'm saying." Alfred pleaded. "Lacy is in trouble. He's going to kill her any minute now. You have to go save her. Put aside the anger you have over Rachel and everything else that the Joker has done and save Lacy. If you don't and then she dies, you know that you will feel guilty because that's the type of man you are. Don't do that to yourself. Stop the Joker. Save Lacy."
Bruce thought about it for a moment and sighed. Alfred had a point As much as he was conflicted, he had to try and save Lacy. "I'm going to call for the ambulance and then go see if I can find the Joker and Lacy."
"Actually sir, I was thinking that you shouldn't call for the ambulance."Alfred spoke up. "Do you really think that's such a good idea?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Bruce asked. "You need to go to the hospital. You need medical attention."
"I do need some medical attention, but if you call for an ambulance then they will take me to a hospital and call the police. Do you really want the police asking questions about why the Joker chose to abduct me? It would raise unnecessary questions that we might want to avoid." Alfred explained.
"Ok." Bruce sighed. He had a point. "You stay here then. I'll go try to see what I can do about Lacy. Then I'll come back for you and we'll go to the penthouse. I'll just have a doctor come and take care of you there. Does that sound better?"
"Absolutely." Alfred agreed. "Now go."
Bruce still wasn't sure about helping Lacy, but realized that he was letting his anger towards her guide his actions and that wasn't a good idea. He still hadn't even heard her side of the story. And if her side of the story was good enough to turn Alfred into one of her supporters, then maybe he would be able to forgive her. But first he needed to make sure the Joker didn't kill her.
Lacy didn't know why she was being placed in a car but knew that nothing good could come from it. Dale had positioned her so that she was sitting in the driver's seat.
The Joker reached into the bag that Chip had brought with them and pulled out a few syringes. He then held them up to Lacy so that she could see them. "Do you know what these are? These are syringes that could either give you a peaceful death or a torturous one."
He could see that she was confused so he continued to explain. "You see, in just a few minutes we are going to put the car in neutral and push it into the water with you in it. I'm guessing it won't take too long for the car to fill up with water. At that time you will drown and it will be especially terrifying for you considering you can't move and try to escape."
He sighed, loving it when a plan comes together so brilliantly. He held up the four syringes. "Now some of these syringes contain drugs that, when combined, cause really dangerous drug interactions. The others are just full of simple saline solution."
He started to mix the syringes up, rearranging them in his hand as he continued. "The saline solution obviously won't do anything to you. But the other two syringes are filled with Diltiazem and beta blockers. Now separately those substances won't hurt you much. Mixed together, they will slow your heart rate down and you will die a painless, peaceful death when your heart just stops."
He smiled at her. "So you see, I have the power to end your life compassionately or ruthlessly." He stopped rearranging the syringes. "I've thought about this for quite a while, what the best way to kill you would be and how to do it. All in all, I think my plan so far has been ingenious and I'm very proud of myself."
He had to laugh. "I've covered every base, thought of every problem, and managed to inflict plenty of pain on you. So I'm now left the decision of whether to grant you a peaceful demise or make you suffer to your last breath. I'm torn. I really am. I'm not sure what to do. I could make a case for either option."
"On one hand, it would be extremely kind of me to let you die a more natural death and just stopping your heart before you get the chance to drown. But on the other hand, I love the idea of your lungs filling up with water and you knowing that there's nothing you can do about it." He looked her in the eyes.
"Do you see my dilemma?" He stayed silent for a moment before continuing. "I guess the only truly fair way to decide is to let fate takes its course." He walked over to Dale and held out the syringes. "Here. Choose two."
Dale hesitated, knowing that if he chose the two that were saline, Lacy would be dying a very slow death. He had no idea which ones weren't saline and which ones were. This was too much pressure for him, pressure that he didn't want. "I don't want to choose." He told his boss.
The Joker looked at his with disgust. "Fine." He moved to Chip. "You choose."
"Ok." Chip replied, looking over at Dale for a moment. He wasn't sure why Dale had such a hard time choosing two syringes. He assumed it was because of his crush on the girl but he didn't really care. He pulled two syringes from the Joker's hands.
"Good." The Joker smiled, walking back over to Lacy. "So your death depends on which syringes Chip just picked." He removed the cap of the first syringe and stuck it into Lacy's left arm, emptying the contents. "Let's hope he chose wisely."
"Now unfortunately I won't ever know what the outcome of Chip's decision was. I'll never know how you really died because if he chose the two that weren't saline, it will take at least five minutes for the effects to show up and for you to die.
"By then I will be long gone." He told her as he stuck the contents of the second syringe into her arm. "But I kind of like it that way. That way, if I ever think of you, I can imagine my own scenario for your death."
He smiled at that thought. "I can think of you sitting perfectly still in that car as the water starts to surround you, your eyes screaming for help that never comes. It's going to be a beautiful memory."
He grabbed a hold of her hand. "Well, sweetheart, we've been through a lot together, but we both know that our time together had to end eventually. I wish I could say that I'm sorry for everything that I have done to you but we both know that would be a lie. I will miss you at times though."
He leaned in closer to her, speaking softly so that Chip and Dale couldn't hear him. "You know I bet there are things you wish you could say to me, but unfortunately, you'll have to take them with you to your watery grave."
He put the car in neutral. "There's just one more thing I want to tell you. It's a quote from one of my favorite songs. I think it works with this situation and here's how it goes…'I love you…I'll kill you…but I'll love you forever.'" He kissed her on the lips and shut the door.
"Let's go." He told Chip and Dale. He watched as they pushed the car into the water. It hovered above the surface for a few seconds before starting to sink. He knew it would only be a matter of time before it sank completely. "Come on!" He bellowed to his men. "Let's go have some more fun with the butler."
"I don't think so." Bruce called out, appearing a few feet away from the Joker.
